In the process of manufacturing a finished product, various raw materials or parts must be ordered from suppliers, received, and the suppliers paid. In general the party doing the manufacturing will want to minimize the inventory of such goods consistent with a strategy that permits reaction to demand changes and prevents exhausting their supply on hand which could otherwise cause production stoppage. Accordingly, an efficient system for handling the paperwork or electronic documents associated with the ordering, receiving, and paying for goods is needed to permit whatever inventory strategy is needed to operate in a facile manner. When a large number e.g. thousands of different goods must be handled by this system as is typical in many manufacturing industries today, improvements in the operation of the document system can provide significant advantages to a manufacturer.
A company normally orders goods by sending a purchase order, document hereinafter called a purchase order, to a supplier listing the goods ordered, their quantity, desired delivery date, and a previously agreed-to price. Other data may also be part of the purchase order. It is also well known in the art to send the purchase order by mail, fax, e-mail, or electronically such as over telephone lines using a technology known as EDI 850. If sent in hardcopy form by mail or fax, the purchase order may be entered into a database manually using a keyboard, mouse pointer, touch screen or such devices which are commonly used to enter data. It is also known to enter purchase orders electronically through the internet using techniques generically known as e-business. Both the company and supplier typically keep a copy either in electronic or hardcopy form for their records.
In general procurement and many other procurement environments, the price paid after delivery is based on the purchase order, a process referred-to as GR/IR. However, it is also known in the procurement arts to use a pricing strategy based on validity dates with control indicators such as ship date, delivery date, and goods receipt date. This strategy usually requires purchase orders to be set up as good receipt base invoice verification, referred to as GR/IV. In this case the actual price to be paid is not determined until after the goods are received.
Regardless of the pricing strategy, the supplier sends an invoice to the company requesting payment. This is usually sent using the same techniques described above for sending purchase orders. Often the invoice arrives for processing before a corresponding goods received receipt(GRR). The GRR may also be called a packing list, bill of lading, shipper or preferably delivery note. The processing of the invoice prior to receipt of goods must necessarily be handled differently when a GR/IV pricing strategy is used. In particular, based on various accounting rules, no processing is possible with such GR/IV invoices as compared to GR/IR. The necessity of having two invoice processing systems is for large companies costly and error prone. It would therefore be an improvement in the art of invoice processing to be able to process GR/IV invoices in a facile manner and in a manner which utilizes GR/IR processing capability which is usually available and operating effectively in a company.